


Shining, Shimmering, Splendid

by AccioInvisibilityCloak



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Ariel, Bisexual Jasmine, Blatantly OOC Prince Eric, Desert Mermaid, Episode: s06e15 A Wondrous Place, F/F, Fluff, Jasmine's POV, bi princesses in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 14:50:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11831001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AccioInvisibilityCloak/pseuds/AccioInvisibilityCloak
Summary: "You’re everything I dreamed humans would be- everything I wished Prince Eric would be. You’re… everything.”"Ariel, can I kiss you?"AU of 6x15 where Prince Eric was never Jafar in disguise- he was just a prejudiced jerk who couldn't accept Ariel for who she is, a mermaid. After Ariel breaks up with him, she and Jasmine grow closer instead.





	Shining, Shimmering, Splendid

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This might not make sense within the actual Once Upon a Time season 6 story arc, and I'm sorry about that, but the Ariel/Jasmine episode is the only one I watched this past season, and I just couldn't resist giving the Desert Mermaid ship some fic! I hope you enjoy :) 
> 
> (also includes lots of Aladdin (1992) and The Little Mermaid (1989) references. And I made up the song idea, I don't know anything about actual music from Arabic-speaking countries, but I figured all cultures sing about love some way or another. I'm sorry if anything is incorrect or offensive, please let me know and I'll correct.)

*******

        “Ariel, I… I mean, you’re a fish!” Eric exclaims in disgust. “How could I date you now? Much less _marry_ you? I’m sorry, but my kingdom needs a human princess, one who can really commit to ruling at my side. I just can’t get past this.”

“I _am_ a human princess. I’m a human _and_ a mermaid, and there is nothing wrong with that,” Ariel snaps, fire in her eyes.

“You’re a different _species_ ,” Eric says. “I never really knew you at all, did I?”

“I wish I never knew you either! I don’t want to be within seven leagues of you ever again!” Ariel exclaims, her big blue eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

Eric just stares at her, stony-faced, unmoved, until Ariel can’t stand it anymore.

“All this time, I really thought you were different,” she whispers, backing away from him. Unable to hold back, she bursts into tears and runs out of the tent.

       The prince immediately turns on Jasmine. “Can you believe that? Did you know what she was?”

Jasmine ignores the question.

“Agrabah will accept your help, Prince Eric,” she says coldly. “But only because we are in dire need of it. If I had my way, you would be banished from this city forever. I don’t tolerate the bigotry of vile men like you in my lands.”

“You’re actually okay with having a _fish monster_ in your midst? You’re lucky I don’t abandon this pathetic city to its fate,” Eric says, clearly relishing the thought.

“Watch your tone, prince. You need us,” Jasmine replies with a glare. “If not to supply your kingdom with a fortune, then at least to get you out of the desert alive!”

And with that, she turns and runs outside to look for Ariel.

*******

      Jasmine finds Ariel at the edge of the bay, sitting on a large, flat rock. She’s taken off the magical bracelet, and her shimmering scales are slick with the water. Jasmine heard a legend once, saying that mermaids cannot cry. Now, Ariel is proving that tale wrong, and it nearly breaks her heart. She toes out of her slippers and sits down, dipping her own brown feet into the cool water.

The two princesses are silent for a long while. Finally, Jasmine lays a hand on Ariel’s arm, and the mermaid’s wet fingers close over her own in gratitude.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jasmine murmurs. Ariel shakes her head.

“I’m used to it,” she sighs. “Or, I should be.”

“Of course you shouldn’t!” Jasmine insists. “No one deserves to be treated like this, Ariel. No one. I speak from experience. Come back to the palace with me, I can keep you safe until the danger to my kingdom has passed.”

“I… thank you,” Ariel says. “But I need to be alone.”

And with that, she dives into the water and is gone.

*******

         There’s nothing for Jasmine to do but to accept Ariel’s decision and return to her palace. She spends the next several days overseeing the battle against Jafar on the outskirts of the city, glaring at Eric whenever they cross paths. Something has changed in Jasmine’s heart since meeting the little mermaid, and she can’t go back to before.

         Finally, back at the palace one evening, a guard comes to Jasmine’s chamber door, announcing a guest to see the princess.

“Send her in- oh!” Jasmine exclaims, rushing to the door, where the guard is standing beside a damp, bedraggled woman with flowing red hair.

“Hello, Jasmine,” she says shyly.

“You came back,” Jasmine says in wonderment. “Oh Ariel, I’m so glad.”

“I wanted to thank you. For making me feel so at home. It means the world to me,” Ariel says.

“You can stay as long as you like,” Jasmine says, looping her arm through Ariel’s. “I’ve had a room made up for you, I can show you. And maybe tomorrow, you’d like to come with me on a tour of the kingdom? I don’t think you and Agrabah have properly been introduced.”

“We don’t have to take that awful flying rug, do we?” Ariel shudders.

Jasmine laughs. “I do have a horse and carriage, if you prefer.”

Ariel’s nose crinkles up when she looks confused. It’s kind of adorable, Jasmine thinks.

“Is that like a seahorse? On land?!”

*******

      As it turns out, Ariel loves land horses just as much as seahorses. In fact, she seems to love just about everything in Agrabah with equal enthusiasm. It’s rather endearing.

She oohs and ahhs when Jasmine shows her the marketplace, with its stalls full of fresh fruits and jewelry, fine clothing and colorful hijabs for sale. At the sight of a small monkey stealing a banana from a stall vendor, Ariel laughs so hard that the vendor starts to suspect her of being involved in the theft. Jasmine has to pull her away, out of the furious man’s sight.

      They end up in a small alcove hidden in the side of an old building. A view of practically all Agrabah stretches out before them, the palace looming large and glittering in the center. The Agrabahn Bay glitters in the middle-distance, the ocean butting up against the coast of Jasmine’s realm. She watches the water, trying and failing to picture Ariel’s life in the kingdom under the sea.

“Oh,” Ariel breathes.

“You like it?” Jasmine turns to the mermaid, who is positively beaming as she takes in the view. Something warm and pleasant swirls through Jasmine’s belly at the sight, and she bites down on her smile.

Ariel sighs rapturously. “It’s wonderful! Oh, and what lovely music!”

       Indeed, the song of a group of street performers below floats through the window, and Ariel closes her eyes and starts to hum along, matching the sad, slow tune exactly. She pauses. “What are they singing about?”

“It’s a song about lost love,” Jasmine says, taking in the familiar, comforting Arabic words. “A love deep and true, the purest of life’s treasures.”

“Hmm,” Ariel murmurs. “Can I ask… do you dance, Jasmine?”

She holds out her hands, and it reminds Jasmine suddenly of an old love, offering his own hand and whispering, _do you trust me?_

“Yes,” she says slowly, taking Ariel’s hands and allowing the mermaid girl to pull her close.

        Jasmine sets her hands on Ariel’s shoulders, and Ariel rests hers at Jasmine’s waist, warm and comfortable. The two women sway together, steady as the sea.

Ariel’s eyes are almost bluer than that sea, Jasmine thinks, and she has the prettiest lips… er, smile. The prettiest smile, that must feel soft as velvet against one’s skin. And when Ariel bites her lip- oh, Jasmine _wants_.

       She forces herself to look away. “Do you like Agrabah?” she asks, trying valiantly to hide the tremor of desire in her voice.

“Of course I do,” Ariel says.

Her lips are inches from Jasmine’s, and Jasmine can’t stop _thinking_ about it.

“It doesn’t, I don’t know… dry you out?” she rambles. “What with the desert, and all…”

“Oh, no,” Ariel explains as they continue dancing, faster to match the tempo of the musicians’ next song. “I’ve always loved the idea of being on soft sand, under the heat of the sun. It’s invigorating, much nicer than the cold ocean floor. Although, I do miss the water. The way it holds you, safe as a flounder pup in his cradle. It’s my home.”

“Of course,” Jasmine sighs. “I can’t replace your home.”

“Well, here I have the bay,” Ariel points out. “And you’re holding me, right now. I’m happy here, Jasmine. I really am. And that’s because I met you. You’re everything I dreamed humans would be- everything I wished Prince Eric would be. You’re… everything.”

And Jasmine can’t hold back.

“Ariel… can I kiss you?” she breathes.

        Next moment, the mermaid’s silky mouth is pressed against her own, and Jasmine sighs as she kisses her back. Her hand weaves into that beautiful red hair, pulling Ariel closer. She can feel her smiling.

Ariel breaks away for a moment, breathing heavily. “Does this mean you…?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Jasmine says desperately, laughing, her forehead resting gently against Ariel’s.

“Good,” the mermaid says. “Because I like you, too.”

Ariel kisses her again, deeply. Jasmine gives herself over completely to embracing this unbelievable woman, and when she touches her- well.

Together, they shine like stars.

*******


End file.
